Wine Archives | Tea For Tammi

Lady dates are the best, especially when it involves a road trip to wine country with a fellow person who..doesn’t drink.

Isn’t life ironic?

But when I got invited as a guest of Lovedale Long Lunch, we absolutely jumped on the chance to explore Hunter Valley!

Tatler Wines and Cafe

First stop: Tatler Wines and Cafe. Steak and sausages, with a fresh salad on the side. Sausages were great, but I don’t really understand why you would serve steak at a festival: it’s so hard to keep warm and yet not overcook it, and have you ever tried to cut steak with a plastic knife? Not so cute when it tips all over you while you struggle with fragile plastic cutlery – like my self-esteem, haha!

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of Lovedale Long Lunch

Tatler Wines and Cafe
477 Lovedale Road
Lovedale, NSW
Phone: (02) 4930 9139
Website: http://tatlerwines.com.au

The Deck Cafe

Then it was on to the Deck Cafe for some brie like a huge wodge of creamy cheese. Served a bit too cold for my liking, and not quite rich enough, but it was still a nice piece of cheese, with a beautiful still pond serving as your view.

Very pretty.

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of Lovedale Long Lunch

The Deck Cafe
701 Lovedale Rd
Lovedale, NSW
Phone: (02) 4930 9007
Website: http://www.deckcafelovedale.com.au

Saltire Estate Catering

Braised Wagyu Beef with Truffle Mash, Apple, and Beetroot Relish

Saltire Estate catering really really was a bust. Overcooked meat, and truffle mash with no truffle aroma – this meal was like the Tinder version of food: it looked promising, but no cigar.

Y U SO OVERCOOKED??

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of Lovedale Long Lunch

Saltire Estate Catering
113 Wilderness Rd
Lovedale 2320
Phone: 02 4915 7228

Muse Restaurant and Cafe

Hunter Calley favourites Muse Restaurant and Catering served up both savoury AND sweet dishes. Savoury had something something PORK BELLY (does the rest matter?), and a Nitro Rocky Road with Chocolate Mousse, Strawberry, Marshmallow, Coconut Meringue and Macadamia Brittle Biscuit.

Nitro Rocky Road: Chocolate Mousse, Strawberry, Marshmallow, Coconut Meringue and Macadamia Brittle Biscuit

So basically a lot of smoke, very dramatic, and a chocolatey dessert Unfortunately I couldn’t pick apart the individual flavours, but it did look very pretty, and it was pleasant, but not like, amazeballs, you know?

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of Lovedale Long Lunch

Muse restaurant and Cafe
1 Broke Rd
Pokolbin, NSW
Phone: (02) 4998 6777
Website: http://musedining.com.au

Still, the Hunter Valley is just such a beautiful place to visit. Amazing vineyards, great food producers, and burrata for $4. Yes. $4.

No, don’t bother going to try buying them. IT’S ALL MINE! ALL MINE I TELL YOU!!

Burgers to me have always naturally been classed as “beer food”. You know, sport on tv, greasy burger, hot chips, cold beer? But the burgers ain’t greasy at Chur Burger, and well, the beer ain’t beer either.

No, the alcohol in this case comes courtesy of Mudhouse Wines, and Chef Warren has created four new burgers at Chur Burger to pair with the wines, in a limited edition menu, only available for the next month.

Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder Burger, with sweet potato, pickled beetroot, and minted slaw

I was very lucky to try all four burgers in a slider size with all of the available wines – goat’s curd burger with a pinot gris, saffron prawn burger with a sauvignon blanc, and a slow roasted lamb burger, and a crispy pork belly burger, both paired with a pinot noir.

I know, hard life, right? 😉

Crispy Pork Belly Burger, with cherry gastrique, baby gem and fennel mayo

My experience with wines has been pretty limited, but the pinot gris with the goat’s curd burger was nice. And this is where you imagine me holding up the “ok” symbol and having a very impressed look on my face. Very nice. The 2014 Pinot Gris had a very clean finish, and cleansed the palette between bites very nicely. It held up very well to the burger, and we all know that Warren does good burgers.

The pork and lamb burger was similarly delicious, though not quite as delicious as the goat’s curd, but the prawn, for me, didn’t quite work as a burger. Each component was delicious, but the filling to bun ratio didn’t quite work with each bite.

Still. Super delicious stuff from two kiwis who really know what they’re doing. And only $20 in Sydney CBD!! A steal any way you choose to look at it. Two thumbs up.

Posts tagged Wine